Minneapolis police chief tells murder trial Derek Chauvin broke policy by pinning George Floyd
The chief of the Minneapolis police department has said Derek Chauvin violated policy when he pinned George Floyd beneath his knee for more than nine minutes.
Giving evidence to the murder trial of officer Derek Chauvin, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said continuing to kneel on Mr Floyd's neck once he was handcuffed behind his back and lying on his stomach was "in no way, shape or form" part of department policy or training.
Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Mr Floyd's death.
The white officer is accused of pressing his knee into the 46-year-old man’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, outside a corner market where Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes.
He continued: "It is certainly not part of our ethics or our value".
Mr Arradondo is one of several top officers in the Minneapolis police department to openly condemn Chauvin's actions to the court. In previous cases, police have been accused of closing ranks to protect fellow members.
Mr Arradondo testified not only that Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the force, should have let Floyd up sooner, but that the pressure on Floyd’s neck did not appear to be light to moderate, as called for under the department’s neck-restraint policy.
He told the court Chauvin had failed in his duty to render first aid before the ambulance arrived, and that he violated policy requiring officers to de-escalate tense situations with no or minimal force if they can.
"That action is not de-escalation," the police chief said.
"When we talk about the framework of our sanctity of life and when we talk about our principles and the values that we have, that action goes contrary to what we are talking about."
Mr Floyd’s treatment by police was captured on widely seen bystander video, that sparked protests around the US as people demonstrated against racial inequality.
The defense has argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s use of illegal drugs and underlying health conditions caused his death.
Prosecutor Steve Schleicher noted that while some people may become more dangerous under the influence of drugs or alcohol, some may actually be “more vulnerable.”
Mr Arradondo agreed and acknowledged that this must also be taken into consideration when officers decide to use force.
Before he was pinned to the ground, Mr Floyd struggled with police who were trying to put him in a squad car. He repeatedly said he was claustrophobic.
Mr Arradondo said officers are trained in basic first aid, including chest compressions, and department policy requires them to request medical assistance and provide necessary aid as soon as possible before paramedics arrive.
"We absolutely have a duty to render that," he said.
Officers continued to restrain Mr Floyd - with Chauvin kneeling on his neck, another kneeling on Mr Floyd’s back and a third holding his feet - until the ambulance got there, even after he became unresponsive, according to testimony and video footage.
The officers also rebuffed offers of help from an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter who wanted to administer aid or tell officers how to do it.
Mr Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney, noted on cross-examination that department policies direct officers to do what is reasonable in a given situation.
He asked whether officers need to take the actions of a crowd into account, police chief Arradondo agreed.
Mr Nelson has suggested that onlookers, many of whom were shouting at Chauvin, might have affected officers’ response.
Mr Nelson also questioned whether Chauvin’s knee was on Mr Floyd’s neck, playing a few seconds of bystander video side-by-side with footage from an officer’s body camera that Mr Arradondo agreed appeared to show Chauvin’s knee on Mr Floyd’s shoulder blade.
But prosecutors quickly got Mr Arradondo to note that the clip played by Nelson depicted only the few seconds before Floyd was moved onto a stretcher.
Minneapolis police Inspector Katie Blackwell, commander of the training division at the time of Floyd’s death, also took the stand on Monday.
She said Chauvin, whom she’s known for about 20 years, received annual training in defensive tactics and use of force, and would have been trained to use one or two arms, not his knee, in a neck restraint.
"I don’t know what kind of improvised position that is" she said, after being shown a photo of Chauvin with his knee on Mr Floyd’s neck.
She said Chauvin also was a field-training officer, receiving additional training so he would know what prospective officers were learning in the academy.